Systems and methods providing surface offsets for additive manufacturing

Abstract

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by a computer processor, cause the computer processor to discretize distinct surfaces of a 3D model defining nominal geometry of a component to be manufactured using an additive manufacturing machine; define a build orientation of the 3D model, the build orientation comprises an initial build plane and a build direction; apply one or more in-plane offsets to at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model; and generate an offset 3D model for use by the additive manufacturing machine to manufacture the component such that a manufactured component comprises the nominal geometry defined by the 3D model, where the offset 3D model defines the nominal geometry of the component offset by the one or more in-plane offsets applied to the at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by a computer processor, cause the computer processor to perform a method comprising:
 discretizing distinct surfaces of a 3D model defining nominal geometry of a component to be manufactured using an additive manufacturing machine;   defining a build orientation of the 3D model, the build orientation comprises an initial build plane and a build direction;   applying one or more in-plane offsets to at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model; and   generating an offset 3D model for use by the additive manufacturing machine to manufacture the component such that a manufactured component comprises the nominal geometry defined by the 3D model, wherein the offset 3D model defines the nominal geometry of the component offset by the one or more in-plane offsets applied to the at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model.   
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for performing the method comprising:
 implementing a slicing tool configured to:
 slice the offset 3D model into a plurality of layers for building with the additive manufacturing machine, and 
 generate additive manufacturing machine control commands for building the component based on the plurality of layers of the offset 3D model with the additive manufacturing machine. 
   
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 2 , wherein the additive manufacturing machine control commands are stored as a g-code file. 
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for performing the method comprising:
 rendering a 3D visualization of the offset 3D model on a display device.   
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more in-plane offsets change a position of points defining the nominal geometry of the component in the 3D model, and the changes in the position of the points occurs in a direction perpendicular to the build direction. 
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more in-plane offsets are applied to each of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model. 
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein a magnitude of the one or more in-plane offsets for the at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces changes across build planes of the at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces along the build direction. 
     
     
         8 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein a first in-plane offset applied to a first discretized distinct surface of the 3D model is different than a second in-plane offset applied to a second discretized distinct surface of the 3D model. 
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the first discretized distinct surface of the 3D model shares a boundary with the second discretized distinct surface, a magnitude of the first in-plane offset and a magnitude of the second in-plane offset merges together along the boundary. 
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein applying the one or more in-plane offsets to the 3D model preserves heights, in the build direction, of the nominal geometry of the component. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein discretizing the distinct surfaces of the 3D model includes defining a plurality of points on the distinct surfaces. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the offset 3D model is at least one of an STL file or a B-rep model. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more in-plane offsets is defined by at least one of an attribute of the additive manufacturing machine or an attribute of a material for manufacturing the component. 
     
     
         14 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by a computer processor, cause the computer processor to perform a method comprising:
 discretizing distinct surfaces of a 3D model defining nominal geometry of a component to be manufactured using an additive manufacturing machine;   defining a build orientation of the 3D model, the build orientation comprises an initial build plane and a build direction; and   implementing a slicing tool configured to:
 slice the 3D model into a plurality of layers for building with the additive manufacturing machine, 
 apply one or more in-plane offsets to one or more of the plurality of layers for at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model, and 
 generate additive manufacturing machine control commands for building the component incorporating the on the one or more in-plane offsets applied to the one or more of the plurality of layers of the 3D model with the additive manufacturing machine. 
   
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more in-plane offsets change a position of points defining the nominal geometry of the component in the 3D model, and the changes in the position of the points occurs in a direction perpendicular to the build direction. 
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more in-plane offsets are applied to each of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , wherein applying the one or more in-plane offsets to the 3D model preserves heights, in the build direction, of the nominal geometry of the component. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more in-plane offsets is defined by at least one of an attribute of the additive manufacturing machine or an attribute of a material for manufacturing the component. 
     
     
         19 . A method of making a component using an additive manufacturing machine, the method comprising:
 discretizing distinct surfaces of a 3D model defining nominal geometry of the component to be manufactured using the additive manufacturing machine;   defining a build orientation of the 3D model, the build orientation comprises an initial build plane and a build direction;   applying one or more in-plane offsets to at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model; and   generating an offset 3D model for use by the additive manufacturing machine to manufacture the component such that a manufactured component comprises the nominal geometry defined by the 3D model, wherein the offset 3D model defines the nominal geometry of the component offset by the one or more in-plane offsets applied to the at least one of the discretized distinct surfaces of the 3D model.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 implementing a slicing tool configured to:
 slice the offset 3D model into a plurality of layers for building with the additive manufacturing machine, and 
 generate additive manufacturing machine control commands for building the component based on the plurality of layers of the offset 3D model with the additive manufacturing machine.